With the joys of social media, we also get a chance to glimpse into the glamorous celebrity life. In mere seconds, pop culture connoisseurs can briefly scroll through A-listers' thoughts and discover some entertaining details. But if there’s one thing we love even more, it’s finding the most satisfying clapbacks to insults or unwelcome remarks.
After all, for every starstruck fan, there are at least two keyboard warriors who spew negativity only to stir some more drama into the pot. Whether they try (and fail!) to show off their wittiness or forget that behind every star lies an actual human being, some people almost beg to be put in their place. And the whole world gets to watch it happen.
Let’s give a round of applause for the scathing tweets and sizzling burns from celebrities that left some seriously bruised egos, shall we? Our team here at Bored Panda has scoured Twitter to bring the most razor-sharp snapbacks ever composed in 280 characters. So grab your popcorn and pull your chair closer because we’re about to uncover some of the best and wildest cases. Keep reading to also find an in-depth interview about fierce replies online with Deborah S. Bowen, Ph.D. Then be sure to upvote your favorite entries, and share what you think of them in the comments!
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Dream Body. Danny DeVito
Anna Kendrick's Clapback
Kendall And Kylie Jenner Were Selling Expensive T-Shirts Featuring Their Faces Over Images Of Famed Music Groups And Artists
There’s just something about celebrities that makes us inherently interested in the lives they lead. We feel fascinated by their talent, looks, and charisma, and can’t seem to stop talking about them. Especially when they involve themselves in some zesty drama online. After all, even when celebrities are adored by millions of fans worldwide, they often become subject to constant opinions from people they don’t even know. So no wonder many celebs, fed up with unwanted comments, sometimes fiercely snap back to defend themselves.
As you’re scrolling through this list, you can’t help but feel entertained by stars who seized the opportunity for a sweet comeback. But when social media experts often tell us it’s best to take the high road and ignore petty haters and their insults, is it really the right choice?
To learn more about how celebrities deal with criticism, as well as how to better handle the pouring negativity online, we reached out to Deborah S. Bowen, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor of PR Instruction at the University of South Florida. "Every celebrity, no matter where on the alphabet list they fall, is under constant pressure to maintain a particular public image that aligns with that celeb's brand," she told Bored Panda.
This Response
Cole Sprouse Had The Best Response To Bill O'Reilly Question
Sass Master James Blunt
"Much of the time, high-level celebs do rely on guidance from a PR rep, but a human brand is a human first. Living under a social microscope can certainly result in very intense human reactions to emotionally-charged situations," the professor explained.
However, it’s important to remember that these superstars are regular people who also make mistakes. "There's no template for handling a human being, so while any response would do well to be executed thoughtfully and strategically, the next-best thing would be to assess the situation objectively and figure out how to proceed in resolving the situation in a way that not only repairs the brand but also serves as a positive example to the public," Bowen said.
Lil Nas X Points Out Double Standard Between Straight And Queer Rappers
Zendaya Jokingly Claps Back At Eagle-Eyed Fan
Pretty sure this is fake. Saw it a couple years with two normal people- unless it was posted as an homage/joke
This Moment Of History
But as it turns out, we seek celebrity hearsay because our brains are almost wired to be intrigued by it. How we process it, however, depends on the type of gossip. One study found that people were happier to hear positive tattle and more annoyed to hear negative talk about themselves than about celebrities and best friends. And although their personal ratings suggested they weren’t particularly happy to hear negative gossip about celebs, "the significantly enhanced neural activity in the reward system suggested that they were indeed amused."
This Is A Beautiful Burn
Greta Thunberg Responds To Trump
Says the guy who attempted a coup because he couldn't accept he lost.
Trevor Noah Clapbacks At Ted Cruz
When asked Bowen’s opinion about this desire to seek drama happening online, she told us we absolutely enjoy devouring it. "If we didn't, as social creatures, love a little bit of drama, think of how little content we'd find on streaming platforms!"
"No one is immune to the draw; I succumbed to learning all about a particular rivalry on 'Beauty YouTube' a couple of summers ago, and spent hours down biographical rabbit holes, searching for exposition because the best drama has backstory," she continued.
Don't Mess With Pink
J.K. Rowling Is One Of The Queens Of Clapbacks On Twitter
Terry Crews' Response To A Fan Who Criticized Him For Not Taking A Picture With Her
According to Bowen, we adore seeing some spicy action on social media because it fills important narrative needs for us. "And maybe a little Schadenfreude, too," she added, mentioning the German word that describes the pleasure we get from witnessing someone's misfortune.
"The parasocial relationships we cultivate with our celebrity favorites online also give us an interest. Finally, this is confrontational adrenaline or dopamine that doesn't involve you. That's the best kind of intrigue: somebody else's!"
Lil Nas X With The Clapback
Bullies Are Cowards
Piers, U're Still Here?
But social media users, whether celebrities or general folk, can find other ways to tackle internet haters and bullies other than responding with the sauciest clapbacks they can think of. "The phrase that's thrown around Twitter is 'don't feed the trolls!', and that's my philosophy," Bowen told us.
"Have I been 'put on blast' for my opinions? Of course I have; I'm a person interacting with strangers on a social platform. But unless you want to get into what used to be called a 'flame war' with someone who is likely inconsequential in your life, take a deep breath and keep on scrolling. Don't feed that troll!"
Finn Wolfhard Roasted James Charles
Lil Nas X Is Clapping Back To Boosie Badazz And Other Peers
“Black gay men will never be successful!!!11!” the bigot says to a black gay man who has multiple chart toppers and a dozen hit songs
Oh, Burn
If you want to avoid being bombarded with hateful tweets and messages, as well as bring some ease into the social media chaos, the professor offered a few suggestions. "'Mute' and 'Block' are great tools to use with abandon, too. They give you the ability to temporarily mute or completely block people, topics, keywords, and so on. Take some of the tools that are available in any number of apps and use them to build a platform experience that works best for your style of online interaction."
She Has No Time
It's Almost As If Sarcasm Doesn't Exist Anymore
Lili Reinhart Responded To Body Shamers Who Were Concerned About Her Weight
"The best kind of organic social media interactions, I find, result from one of the parties attempting to make a connection ("hey, you know So-and-So?" or "I grew up right near you!") or joining in a conversation as a positive contributor. Then, authentic debate might happen in a potentially productive way. Being a good steward of your little chunk of social media might make you feel like a hall monitor at times, but it also probably makes you a happier social media user," Professor Bowen concluded.
Not All Of J.K. Rolwing's Fans Agrees With Her, But She Couldn't Have Cared Less
I read some of it, I do not view her as transphobic. She does not strike me as hateful. She has her views, that are concerned about certain female issues If someone has exact quotes (in context) that I have not been made awares, I would love to read. Also, she created something wonderful. If we boycotted every human being that did or thought something "wrong," where would we be?
Lizzo Claps Back At Men Who Use Her Name As An Insult To Women
Lebron James On President Donald Trump Uninviting Stephen Curry And The Warriors To The White House, After Curry Already, Announced He Would Not Attend
Perfect Reply
This Headline Was Trying To Call Lupita Nyong'o's Brother, Peter Nyong'o, Out. But He Knows He Looks Good
Zendaya Slams A Body-Shamer On Twitter
Gigi Clapping Back At A Troll
3 men equals a s**t? Well since he probably could not get one date in 3 decades... S**t = she will sleep with anyone ... Wh*re = she will sleep with anyone BUT ME
Lil Nas X Clapped Back At U.S. Governor
The worst thing about the hype of this shoe is that years ago nobody batted an eye when this brand released the "Jesus shoe" filled with holy water. Call it satanic and people suddenly care
I'm not even sure what to think about a jesus shoe XD
Load More Replies...Especially one who's a Covid denier and seems intent on killing off her constituents. ___ https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/south-dakota-covid-cases-quintuple-after-sturgis-motorcycle-rally-n1277567
Load More Replies...It’s literally a pair of shoes…. I don’t think they’re gonna steal your soul or turn you into a satanist. Even satanists know it’s just a pair of shoes. Some people are just angry and bitter about everything….lol
exactly! I'm christian and while if I had kids I wouldn't really want them walking around being like "yo I got satan shoes' it's also like, not THAT big of a deal. they're just shoes. they allude to lil nas x's music more than the literal devil.
Load More Replies...I mean i agree with NasX's sentiment here but I also don't think that shoes need blood in them tbh.
they are just shoes not a machine that opens a portal to the upside-down
She's just pandering to the people that want the USA to be a theocracy.
Yep, just like that idiot Kandiss Taylor, whose motto is "Jesus, Guns and Babies". 🙄
Load More Replies...I think any company that makes a shoes for status symbols and charges hundreds and thousands of dollars for them are useless resource wasters that need to go bankrupt. Why do people waste money on this crappola?
Someday, someone will read the bible, and notice that '666' is the number of man(kind) - it's not the number of the devil. I'll leave that up to you to discover.
If people believe that god gives a soul, do they think it goes to everyone? What about gay people, or does he take it away? What abut people who don't believe in god, do we have one?
Thee worst thing about these shoes is how f*****g ugly they are. Why are they sewn around the whole thing multiple times Looks? Looks like Dollar Store shoes and Eshays in Australia and dopes here pay well over $150 for them. They look cheap.
*My bad, not Australia. Pretty sure I meant England. Which just means it's a bunch of violent (pre) teens in shorts and t shirts and these ugly shoes looking to start fights with virtually anyone. Especially in subway cars.
Load More Replies...Rihanna's Response After Amanda Bynes Tweeted "Chris Brown Beat You Because You're Not Pretty Enough"
You should never use someone else’s abuse to your advantage. Ever.
Gabourey Sidibe Couldn't Have Cared Less About What Trolls Wrote About Her On Twitter
Troll-Slaying Comeback
Did the idiot not even read the books? Where in the book does someone turn into a frog?
Olivia Wilde's Response To The Person Who Said She Looked Like A Pickle At The Golden Globes
A Twitter User Said That Michael B. Jordan Is A Short Guy Who Likes Anime And Lives With His Parents. Michael Tweeted This Back
Anderson Cooper Being Amazing
Someone Just Got Served
Chrissy Teigen Shared A Photo Of Herself Nursing Her Newborn, But One Twitter User Commented That They Didn't Want To See Celebrities Like Teigen Nursing. Teigen's Reply:
She lets ppl live... really??? this is the woman, who bullied a 15 year old Courtney Stodden and told her to kill herself. Shes vile
Lohn Legend's Response After Donald Trump Referring To Chrissy Teigen As John Legend's “Filthy-Mouthed [Sic] Wife”
That Time When J.K. Rowling Trolled Donald Trump
Khloé Kardashian's Haters Are Calling Her Out For Holding Her Daughter Too Much
Oprah Winfrey Snaps At Twitter User
... ok I have to say it... why only men?, why only 500? I stopped following her many yrs ago when I realized she was as fake as "phil" and "oz". And I am not rich because, I have not made a fortune off of gullible women ( I am a woman btw).
Taylor Swift Responds To A Joke Made About Her In Netflix Show "Ginny & Georgia"
She's been with the same guy since she was 25ish!! And even before then, she was a teenager!! And a young adult! Aren't people supposed to date around to find the right person - like, that's exactly what dating is, right?! We have a whole culture of people using Tinder specifically to have meaningless sex w strangers, so what's so crazy about her meeting and dating someone for a while and it doesn't work out?
Khloe Kardashian's Response To Someone Calling Her Baby "Not Cute"
I don't like the Kardashian/ Jenner clan but what she said was right nobody should comment on a child's appearance especially not a random stranger on the internet.
Be Grateful
Queen Of Clapbacks
Demi Lovato Fires Back After Halsey's Referenced Demi Lovato's "Cool For The Summer" As One Of The Songs That Depict Bisexuality As "Taboo"
Less Pillowtalk, More Fighting Words
I find this sad actually. To have gone from such good friends (I would imagine), to twitter insults.
Note: this post originally had 85 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
There were a few good ones here but as per usual I never heard of most of these people and haven't a clue what they're talking about. Ignorance is bliss.
There were a few good ones here but as per usual I never heard of most of these people and haven't a clue what they're talking about. Ignorance is bliss.